Melanoma detected in skin odor

Does skin cancer have a smell? Scientists from the University of Pennsylvania and the Monell Chemical Senses Center say they have been able to identify a specific chemical signature that is associated with melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer.

Melanoma is a cancer of melanocytes, the pigment-producing cells of the body that give skin its color. The cancer emits a different chemical signature in its odor than non-cancerous cells and, by using the sophisticated sensory techniques, the researchers believe they’ve found a way to diagnose the disease without removing layers of skin for testing.

For this study, the research team picked out volatile organic compounds from melanoma cells at three different stages of the disease, and compared them to the same compounds from normal skin cells. They used gas chromatography-mass spectrometry to analyze the samples, and found different mixtures of VOCs in the cancerous cells. The scientists were even able to distinguish different types of melanoma cells.

Early detection of melanoma is key, though current diagnostics rely on visual examination, which are subject to the skilled eye of the doctor. However, these findings could prove to be groundbreaking due to the greater precision in testing.

Brain scans predict best depression treatment

It can be difficult to determine if therapy or medication is the best treatment for a person diagnosed with depression. Today, that choice is based largely on trial and error; consequently, only about 40 percent of patients achieve success with their initial treatment.

But new research funded by the National Institutes of Health may have found a method for predicting which approach may work best for an individual—brain scans. In a study of 63 depressed patients, the researchers used a PET scanner to image the parts of the brain that were active at a given moment. They compared the brain circuit activity of patients who achieved remission after treatment to those who did not have success. .

What they found was that activity in one area of the brain – the insula – could define which treatment is best. If brain activity is low in this area, cognitive behavior therapy may be more effective, while hyperactivity in the insula appears to respond better to escitalopram, a type of SSRI antidepressant.

If these findings can be duplicated, the use of brain scans could significantly change how depression is treated.

Obese women more likely to have premature babies

The risk of delivering a premature baby rises significantly if the mother is overweight or obese, according to new research from the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm. The study found that the higher the BMI of the mother, the greater the risk of premature birth, which is when a baby is born with fewer than 37 weeks of gestation.

The researchers analyzed 1.59 million births between 1992 and 2010, where the BMI of the mothers, pregnancy complications or health risks after birth were tracked. While this study looked exclusively at children born in Sweden, the preterm delivery rate in the U.S. is more than double Sweden’s, and rates of overweight and obese mothers is also higher in the U.S.

The Swedish scientists reported that obese women are more likely to experience inflammation, caused by high levels of inflammatory proteins called cytokines. And this increases the risk of urinary tract and vaginal infections, which can raise the risk of preterm birth.

The researchers concluded that obese women who are pregnant could prevent health complications for their child by losing some weight. Premature birth is one of the main causes of neonatal illness and infant mortality.